The Lodge, Castle Upton, 891 Antrim Road, Templepatrick, Co Antrim, BT39 0EL

Castle Upton East Lodge is a small, single-storey, two-bay gate lodge built around 1810, located on the north side of Main Street at the entrance to Castle Upton estate. It is constructed of locally sourced rubble stone with a slightly projecting rubble stone plinth to the north elevation. The building is rectangular on plan with a modern L-shaped extension added to the east side.

The roof is hipped natural slate with an off-centre roughcast chimneystack and half-round cast-iron rainwater goods on a timber eaves board. The principal elevation faces the avenue to the west and comprises a timber-sheeted door with keyblocked surround to the left and a distinctive window to the right. This window is the most prominent decorative feature of the lodge: it is multi-pane with a segmental-headed central section and round-headed flanking sections, all within a square timber frame. Windows have square-headed profiles with painted smooth rendered surrounds incorporating cills. The north elevation is three windows wide, all pivoting with geometric glazing. Remains of gate fixings survive to the extreme right of this elevation. The east elevation is abutted by the modern extension, while the south elevation abuts the Castle Upton estate boundary wall. An enlarged modern window opening is visible on the right side where the extension meets the original structure.

The lodge stands within a modern garden bounded by a timber fence and the estate boundary wall. It occupies the former main entrance to Castle Upton, which dates from the sixteenth century and was originally called Castle Norton after its founder, Sir Robert Norton. The surrounding settlement has early origins, having developed around a church founded in the fourteenth century by the Knights of St John. Following extensive grants and subsequent changes in ownership, the Upton family purchased the castle in the mid-seventeenth century, when the name was changed to Castle Upton. The village was almost entirely burned by the King's troops in June 1798 during the Battle of Antrim, and the lodge was constructed shortly thereafter as part of the subsequent rebuilding. Townland Valuation records from 1836 show the gate house in the possession of Lord Templeton, valued at £2 10s 9.5d. Immediately to the northeast of the gate lodge there formerly appeared a 'Tee House', of which no trace now remains.

The modern extension is sympathetic in design, and together with other estate structures, the lodge forms part of a valued group of estate buildings. The lodge is distinguished above its modest proportions by formal touches such as the window surrounds and its unusual decorative glazing scheme.